In an compression ignition internal combustion engine (which will be simply referred to as an internal combustion engine hereinafter), sub fuel injection is performed multiple times at a time prior to the main fuel injection in one combustion cycle, in some cases. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-269229 describes a technology in which the number of times of execution of sub fuel injection in one combustion cycle (which will be simply referred to as the number of times of execution of sub fuel injection hereinafter) is changed according to the engine load and the number of engine revolutions of the internal combustion engine. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-129296 describes a technology in which during the starting of an internal combustion engine, the lower the temperature of the cooling water is, the larger the number of times of execution of sub fuel injection is made. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2001-12277 and 2000-18977 also describe technologies pertaining to the sub fuel injection.